Good, bad bills signed

Gov. Jerry Brown is in the midst of signing or vetoing the hundreds of bills passed this year by the California Legislature.

Two bills continue and extend the use of the diamond car-pool lanes on freeways, which normally mandate that two or more people ride in vehicles.
Assembly Bill 266 is by former Assemblyman Robert Blumenfield, D-Woodland Hills. It extends until 2019 the ability of “clean air vehicles to use high-occupancy vehicle lanes regardless of vehicle capacity levels.” A companion bill that does much the same thing is
Senate Bill 268 is by Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco.

We have opposed the diamond lanes as unduly restricting traffic on roads that all drivers pay for. So long as these lanes exist, it makes sense to open them to as many vehicles as possible, reducing traffic in the regular lanes.

SB46 is by Sen. Ellen Corbett, D-San Leandro. According to her, it “provides real-time notification that someone may have obtained your password, username, or answers to your security questions so the client or customer can immediately change their access information and prevent or limit financial losses and theft of personal data.” This seems especially needed now because of worries that Obamacare's vast new collection of medical data requires greater information security.

SB566 is by Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco. It “allows the regulated cultivation and processing of industrial hemp upon federal approval.” Industrial hemp is not marijuana and has no drug qualities. Yet numerous laws restrict its use. Next, federal law must be changed.

SB380 is by Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Pacoima. It prevents police from arbitrarily shutting down cell service, as happened in August 2011, when the BART transit system cut cell service to impede protests.

Unfortunately, Gov. Brown also signed numerous bills to which we object:

AB8 is by Assemblyman Henry Perea, D-Fresno. It's a “$3 increase of the annual vehicle registration fee” for renewables and alternative fuel programs. Basically, it's a tax increase to promote green cars, which already get such subsidies as a $7,500 federal tax credit.

SB102 was authored by the Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee. It hikes pay $45 million for state workers, including DMV employees. But the state's recent budget problems, which brought on last year's $7 billion tax increase from Proposition 30, mandate spending restraint.

AB241 is by Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco. It enacts a Domestic Workers Bill of Rights that, among other things, applies overtime laws to “housekeepers, nannies and caregivers of children and others who work in private households to care for the health, safety and well-being of those under their care.” It does exclude part-time babysitters, such as teenagers. The health care industry rightly opposed it because it will increase the cost of home care of the sick.

AB10 is by Assemblyman Luis Alejo, D-Salinas. It would increase the state minimum wage to $10 an hour from $8 by 2016. As we have written, this will increase costs for many employers, leading to unemployment for some low-wage workers.